The Word-Keeper - Veronica Del Valle - ★★★

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AUTHOR: Veronica Del Valle
GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction
RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: An imaginative story for middle-graders. Loved the focus on words. I wish the pacing and story development had been more consistent, but children won’t be bothered by these aspects. 

Story Synopsis:
Eleven-year-old Florence Ibbot loves logic and fairness and words. She also loves visiting her grandfather Davey every Christmas and spending precious time with him in the whimsical village of Inkwell. But she doesn’t know that this year’s visit is going to be an eventful one. The words inside books are being destroyed!
With a magical bookmark, an evil imp, a sentient book, and some devious sorcerers, Florence and Davey have their task cut out. 


Bookish Yays:
😍 Florence is an amazing character. I loved how she kept her head even in stressful times. Her passion for words and logic already made her a winner in my eyes.

😍 The vocabulary. Many kids’ books dumb down the vocabulary level, but this book does exactly the opposite. Children (and parents) will be kept busy with their dictionaries because the text truly ensures that it justifies the ‘word’-oriented title. This might go both ways, but as a logophile myself, I loved the usage of words in this book. 

😍 The magical elements are thrilling. Whether active characters such as Ben the bookmark or not so sentient characters such as the fleeting feathers, the story is very imaginative in its fantastical bits. 

😍 The chapter structuring is quite unique at times. For instance, Florence’s journey to Inkwell is broken in subchapters, with each subchapter focussing on one phase of the journey, and each phase having a quirky location.  I don’t know if kids would focus on this, but I liked the innovative idea. 


Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 There are two maps at the start and many B&W illustrations along the way. I loved the maps, but the illustrations left me with mixed feelings. They didn’t add much to the story, and in some cases, didn’t even match the text. For instance, Florence is supposed to be wearing a Tyrolean hat during her journey to her grandpa’s. But the illustrations don’t show the hat at all. Ben the bookmark doesn’t even look like a flat bookmark the first time we see “him”. These are minor issues, but they do make a difference. 

😐 The start made it seem like Florence is the main protagonist, but the book goes across multiple character perspectives through the course of the story. While this gives us a glimpse of various characters, not many of them are strong enough to carry the narrative. I wish the story had mainly been from Florence’s eyes as she would be a worthy role model for kids. 

😐 A part of the book reminded me of Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, but it doesn’t match up to the classic. The initial 30-35% feels more episodic, while the second half is very different in style and more adventurous and action-oriented. The two aspects don’t mesh that well, though they have their plus points individually. 


Bookish Nays:
😒 There’s a big difference in pacing between the first and second halves. The story meanders a lot before it reached its true purpose in the second half. 

😒 Many chapters in the first half focus on the backstory of the character. This should have been briefer as it further takes away from the action and pace of the main plot. 

😒 The bullying related aspects explored in the first chapter made me assume a very different direction for the story. I don’t think it fit well into the overall theme as Florence was anyway a confident young girl. The bullying arc would have made better sense if she grew in confidence after her adventure in Inkwell. 

😒 The cover doesn’t represent the book well. There are so many exceptional characters in the book but the cover focusses only on Florence and books. I doubt many would realise that this is a middle-grade fantasy, looking at the art. 

All in all, the story is very imaginative and highlights the importance of words and the power of right over wrong. I would have liked it better if the two halves had synced better.

Of course, the book is aimed at middle graders, so they surely won’t overanalyse it this much. This will be a nice option for children who love books and love magical stories. It would help if they have an advanced vocabulary, or if they know how to find out word meanings with external resources.

3 stars.

My thanks to Random Things Tours, Silverwood Books, and author Veronica Del Valle for a complimentary copy of 'The Word-Keeper', and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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Blurb: 

What would happen if words disappeared forever?

Set in a whimsical town called Inkwell, a place with an ancient secret history, this fairytale-like adventure will uncover the key to the power hidden within words.

The Word-Keeper is a tale about a savvy bookmark named Ben that unwillingly becomes an evil imp with only one objective: follow the orders of his master and destroy the words that live inside books.

Only one girl can stop him. Her name is Florence Ibbot. She is eleven years old, oddly eloquent and a quiet observer of the world. But above all, Florence is a keen logophile and is willing to sacrifice everything to protect the words.

She sets out to discover who is behind all this. The journey will take her to the origins of writing and inspiration. But she’ll also have to face the most treacherous adversary, Zyler, a ruthless sorceress whose sole mission is to ruin one of humankind’s most precious possessions: the gift of language.

As the final battle approaches, Florence will have to learn how to wield words instead of the sword. Is Florence brave enough to become who she was born to be?

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Author Veronica Del Valle:

Veronica Del Valle is the author of The Book of Four Journeys. She grew up in Argentina, but life eventually led her to live in London, the city that was her home for many years.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She has been an editor and writer for several news organizations and magazines, both in London and Argentina; and she has taught creative writing at Universidad de San Andrés.

Like many of the characters in this book, she has a healthy craving for wild journeys and an unfading love for words, language and the magic of storytelling.

Connect with her on:



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Check out this book:

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This has been a stop on the #TheWordkeeper blog tour conducted by Random Things Tours. (@RandomTTours on X/Twitter) Thanks for stopping by!


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